Voting in 6 Seats in Assam and Meghalaya Begins, Long Queues In Polling Booths

The voting process has been smooth and incident-free so far across all constituencies.

Polling is underway for crucial by-elections in five assembly seats across Assam and the Gambegre constituency in Meghalaya. Voting began at 7 a.m. this morning and will continue until 5 p.m.

Till 9 am, long queues of enthusiastic voters could be seen outside polling stations.

In Gambegre, the by-election comes after former MLA Saleng A. Sangma got elected to the Lok Sabha. Candidates vying for the seat include Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma’s wife, Mehtab Chandee Sangma of the National People’s Party (NPP); Jingjang M. Marak from Congress; Sadhiarani M. Sangma of the TMC; Bernard N. Marak of the BJP; and independents Sengkrabirth Marak and Jerry A. Sangma.

The number of eligible voters in this constituency are 32,254. 31 out of the 51 polling stations in the West Garo Hills have been classified as “critical,” with security measures intensified.

In Assam, large numbers of voters are seen participating across all five constituencies. These by-elections are seen as an important precursor to the 2026 assembly elections. More than 9.10 lakh voters are expected to cast their ballots across Dholai, Sidli, Bongaigaon, Behali, and Samaguri.

Samaguri has emerged as a particularly intense battleground. Formerly held for five terms by Rakibul Hussain, who recently got elected to the Lok Sabha from Dhubri, now his son, Tanzil Hussain, is running for the seat against Diplu Ranjan Sarma from the BJP in a tight race.

Frequent skirmishes between BJP and Congress supporters in Samaguri have led both parties to file several complaints with the Election Commission, prompting robust security arrangements to manage the political tensions.

In Bongaigaon, the contest has drawn attention as AGP’s Diptimayee Choudhury, wife of eight-time MLA and current Barpeta MP Phani Bhusan Choudhury, faces off against Congress candidate Brajenjit Singha, a retired IPS officer.

Meanwhile, in Behali, BJP’s Diganta Ghatowal is up against Congress’s Jayanta Borah. The BJP-AGP-UPPL alliance has presented a united front, opposition efforts to field a common candidate have fallen short, especially in Behali, where internal conflicts threaten to weaken their chances.

The contests in Dholai and Sidli are expected to be equally intense. In Dholai, BJP’s Nihar Ranjan Das is facing Congress’s Dhrubajyoti Purkayastha. In Sidli, it’s a direct contest between UPPL’s Nirmal Kumar Brahma and BPF’s Shuddho Kumar Basumatary, Congress’s Sanjib Warie is also in the fray.

To ensure smooth polling across these constituencies, live webcasting is active at around 55% of polling booths, while others are monitored on-site by election officials.

Samaguri has set up two all-women polling stations at Amabagan Higher Secondary School, alongside 195 other male-staffed stations.

In Behali, 744 presiding and polling officers are on duty across 154 stations, and Sidli’s 273 polling stations are managed by 31 sector and 11 zonal officers. With 2,17,236 eligible voters in Sidli, including 1,09,308 women, 1,07,924 men, and 4 third-gender individuals, extensive security is in place.

Bongaigaon constituency, with 246 polling stations, has also established two all-women polling stations and three model polling stations to improve the voter experience.

The voting process has been smooth and incident-free so far across all constituencies. However, all eyes are on Samaguri, where the intense political rivalry has turned this by-election into a fierce showdown that is being closely monitored.

As the day unfolds, anticipation builds around these tightly contested seats, with the results expected to signal potential trends for the upcoming 2026 assembly polls.

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